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James Bailey
Write the first paragraph of your page here. Section heading James Bailey, played by Nathan Graham, first appears in episode 9776, first broadcast on 22 May 2019.[ The concept for the character was reported on by Andy Halls of The Sun on 25 March 2019. Halls reported that producers were casting for an actor to portray black gay footballer Kai who would come out to his family upon his introduction. He added that the character would first come out to his brother after a gay man arrives at the family home looking for Kai. Further details about the character and Graham's casting was announced on 6 April 2019. James is introduced as a member of the Bailey family, consisting of: brothers, James and Michael Bailey (Ryan Russell), and their parents, Ed Bailey (Trevor Michael Georges) and Aggie Bailey (Lorna Laidlaw). The family are introduced when they move into 3 Coronation Street. The family are the first black family to appear on the soap since 2013.Auditions for the character were held in March 2019.Iain MacLeod called the family "funny, warm and will pull together through thick and thin" and expressed his joy at their castings, adding that the actors work well together.[23 Graham expressed his delight at joining the cast and becoming part of the Bailey family. James is 19 years old and the youngest member of the Bailey family. He is a gifted footballer who plays for Weatherfield County's youth football team and characterised as attractive, hard-working, "brooding", "quiet, modest and hard-working". He is close to his father and brother and billed as Edison's "pride and joy" and a friend to Michael. Graham called James "the apple of his father's eye" and explained that Edison wanted to be a footballer, but could not manage it, so is "almost living his life through James". In regards to his career, Graham described James as "very determined and driven to achieving his dreams" as he hopes to progress and move to better football teams. MacLeod called James "a fundamentally decent guy". James establishes a close bond with Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) after his arrival when she mistakenly tries for a relationship with him, unaware that he is gay. James is the first member of the Bailey family to be introduced. He first appears as part of a storyline about Steve McDonald's (Simon Gregson) work troubles, which sees the character held at knifepoint by a taxi customer. MacLeod explained that at that point, the audience are unaware of James' identity. When James and two friends refuse to pay their taxi fare, Steve chases them with a baseball bat. James is consequently knocked down by a car, but claims that he is fine and does not want to "make a fuss" due to his career.James and Steve soon bond and MacLeod confirmed that James would establish friendships with Steve and Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) as they are in awe of his football connection. MacLeod noted that James would be worried about coming out to his family and that his homosexuality would affect his football career. Graham looked forward to the storylines that he would be given. It was subsequently confirmed that James would be at the centre of an issue-led story exploring homophobia in football. MacLeod did not want to portray a "normal coming out story where we see James wrestling with his sexuality", but wanted to display him worried about sharing his secret and "scared" about being open in his vocation.MacLeod also revealed that James would face an initial negative response to his sexuality from some members of his family, but they soon warm to the idea. Section heading Write the second section of your page here.